Italy`s hidden Beautysibilinian mountains

Pictures of a Road Trip through the Heart of Italy

The Lost Mountain Road

Pictures by Eric Berger (Vienna) with iPhone

The municipalities of Monti Sibillini Park represent a unique occasion to live the wonders of the past in full, and to discover the treasures that have been curated by man throughout the centuries – in part so that they could adapt to their natural environment, wild – and often hostile - as it was.

A travel experience in these parts can be akin to roughing it, because realistic, but it is one that is also marked by culture, that is intensely engaging, and that leaves the visitor with unforgettable emotions.

The towns most worth a visit include Visso, the National Park's actual seat. Legend has it that this Umbrian communitiy – characterized by a quaint, picturesque historic center – was founded 907 years before Rome, and that, once it was recognized as a free comune, it was divided into five districts called Guaite (made up of neighboring towns Castelsantangelo and Ussita), up until the Napoleonic invasion.

Not far away, cars and individuals alike can take a tour of the Gole della Valnerina, gullies that were dug by erosion from the River Nera, and of the massif Monte Bove (resembling more a Dolomite summit than an Apennine one).

And given the particularities of its location, Arquata del Tronto is the only municipality in all of Europe whose territory is composed by parts of two different National Parks: Monti Sibillini in the north and Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga in its south (the beginning of the Region of Abruzzo).

Norcia, the heart of an important section of the Monti Sibillini Park, is the land of Europe’s Patron Saint, Saint Benedict, as well as a zone famous for its cured meats production and its lovely historic center.